Adaptação de próteses auditivas em adultos e idosos em um programa de atenção à saúde auditiva

Abstract

Aims: to analyze the main aspects of the Hearing Health Care Program of UFSM, to research the possible factors that interfere in the effective fitting of hearing aids as well as to assess the performance and satisfaction of subjects when wearing the hearing aids. Methods: 67 subjects already fitted with hearing aids for more than a year, living in the city of Santa Maria, were assessed. An anamnesis was carried out considering the quality of fitting, the effective use of hearing aids and the difficulties found in this process. Out of these 67 subjects, 49 with mild or severe sensorineural or mixed hearing loss in the better ear, divided into adults and elderly groups, were submitted to the research Sentence Recognition Threshold and Percent Indexes in Quiet and in Noise (SRTQ and SRTN, PISRQ and PISRN) in sound field through the test Portuguese Sentences Lists; they also answered the satisfaction questionnaire, International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA). The tests were carried out in the same session, in two distinct moments, being the first without the use of hearing aids (SRTQ and SRTN, PISRQ and PISRN) and the second one using them (PISRQ and PISRN). Results: most subjects showed mild to moderate-severe sensorineural hearing loss. The most used kind of aid was the behind-the-ear (64 subjects 95,5%), technology B was chosen in 30 subjects (44,8%), with bilateral adaptation in 60 subjects (89,6%). Eight adults (47,1%) and 20 (40%) elderly reported using both hearing aids daily, while 15 adults (88,2%) and 31 elderly (62%) reported using the aids between 5 and 12 hours daily. The main complaints regarding the ear molds were: physical discomfort, cracked/ dry tubes, insertion/removal, loose-fitting molds and occlusion effect. Clinical complaints included: speech comprehension in noise, discomfort for loud sounds, hissing and insufficient amplification. In relation to performance, there was a significant difference in both groups in the measurements obtained in quiet. Although the users performance in noise has not shown a meaningful improvement, the patients had positive scores in the questionnaire. No significant difference was observed when comparing satisfaction and performance of adults and elderly users. Conclusions: only half the selected subjects were studied, which shows that patients moved away from the program after the donation of hearing aids. It was noticed that most subjects use the hearing aids between 5 and 12 hours daily. The complaints reported are easy to solve, reinforcing the need of follow-up during the fitting process. Besides, the significant improvement in performance in quiet meets the patients report, that is, little difficulty in this situation. The questionnaire showed that, in both groups, most patients reported an effective use of the hearing aids. They also referred to a very satisfying benefit. Although some patients referred to a moderate or great residual difficulty, most of them considered that using hearing aids is really worth it. The self-assessment questionnaires help in the users performance control during the adaptation process with hearing aids.